Matthew Dickman Gets Seasonal with Jen Bervin’s The Silver Book November 30, 2011: Matthew Dickman cozies up with Jen Bervin's The Silver Book (Ugly Duckling Presse) over at Tin House, for "who better to turn to for medicine than both a visual and literary artist." Dickman continues: This beautiful long poem begins: date the paper—it’s your early work— date the spaces—it’s late— write—be late [...] by Harriet Staff

“I know that a lot of what I say has been lifted off of men’s room walls” November 30, 2011: David Berman may have been singing about a different bathroom in the above-mentioned tune, but for commode users in Iowa City, you can now get some verse with your relief. Check it, from this Daily Iowan article: The newspapers, magazines, and hastily etched phrases in some Iowa City restroom stalls have been replaced by an unlikely [...] by Harriet Staff

Stop Reading from Your iPhone, Says We Who Are About to Die November 30, 2011: Attention poets! Daniel Nester has had enough of a very particular style of reading poetry, and he's announced the wishful death of it on his blog, We Who Are About to Die. No more reading from your iPhone! He even made that great image above to prove his point. Nester writes: It’s been a while since seeing this occur in person, where [...] by Harriet Staff

NAOMI’S POEM November 30, 2011: I hate to use the poem on the back of the book but that’s the one I wanted. I was at the San Francisco Zen Center last week and Paul Haller, the abbot, a man who I have heard speak many times and I have often thought if I had a teacher it would be him - for instance in the course of a Zen talk Paul once said, “pattern is contact” which I [...] by Eileen Myles

How Can We Get These People To Obey Traffic Laws? Haiku! November 30, 2011: That's right, the New York DOT has installed Haiku traffic signs throughout the city. But, will people even look up from Angry Birds to notice them? Crossing the street has gone from bad to verse. City officials desperate to curb horrific traffic fatalities are shelling out thousands on a new weapon: haiku poems. The artsy literary [...] by Harriet Staff

Susan Howe and Charles Reznikoff on the Radio November 29, 2011: Jacket2 has just posted excerpts from Susan Howe's radio show, no baloney. Her WBAI (NY)/Pacifica Radio programs are available at PennSound as the result of a collaboration with the Archive for New Poetry at the University of California, San Diego; and as of two days ago, they've made a special recording available. Al Fireis writes: "On May [...] by Harriet Staff

Friends with Benefits: Belladonna* and The Believer Parties Almost Here November 29, 2011: All you need is a few duckets and a hankering for a Brooklyn Lager -- yep, it's benefit season, and we don't mean amateur English cricket. So if you're in New York, put these two gems on your calendar: 1) The Believer/McSweeney's Party in the Yurt and 2) Belladonna* Benefit! Surely there's more. But those with poetic inclinations need look no [...] by Harriet Staff

A Crisis in Worldwide Literary Criticism… November 29, 2011: The Melville House blog points us to an interesting article, published on Saturday, from Spain's El País newspaper. The article, in its original Spanish, "pronounced a state of crisis in worldwide literary criticism," with Winston Manrique Saboga interviewing some folks who would know: literary editor of The Guardian Claire Armitstead; essayist, [...] by Harriet Staff

Rae Armantrout: “What is it like then to be told that you have adrenal cortical cancer, a disease so rare you have never heard of it and from which you will probably die?” November 29, 2011: Rae Armantrout has written this three part piece about her experience with a rare form of cancer. Armantrout wrote the piece for Lybba, a "501c3 nonprofit, creating an online and mobile community where patients, clinicians, researchers, and policymakers can develop evidence-based models of care, cultivate community, and drive insights faster to [...] by Harriet Staff

“almost lyrical and poetic in some way”: Sylvester Stallone on Rocky the Musical November 29, 2011: Yo! This is real and it's happening. Rocky will be made into a musical, appearing first in Germany and, hopefully, some day here in the states. "I love the idea of seeing Rocky on stage, it's just a natural extension," Stallone, who also serves as a producer of the musical, recently said at a press event in Hamburg. "I've always seen it as a [...] by Harriet Staff